N.R. Doraiswamy, an attache in the Indian High Commission, had just left his house on his way to office when he was pulled out of the staff car by 10 Pakistani intelligence operatives, blindfolded and forcibly taken away.

The driver and security guard of the mission who objected to the assault and tried to prevent Doraiswamy's abduction, were manhandled and pushed aside, the External Affair Ministry spokesman said.

India summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi and demanded that Pakistan ensure Doraiswamy's immediate and safe return. Secretary (East) in the MEA, Nareshwar Dayal, told Qazi in no uncertain terms that Doraiswamy's ``well-being'' was Pakistan's responsibility.

However, a badly beaten and severely bruised Doraiswamy was dropped off near his house around noon today.

Condemning the attack, thespokesman said the assault was a ``preplanned act'', in violation of the Vienna Convention and the bilateral India-Pakistan Code of conduct for treatment of diplomatic and consular personnel.

India has registered its strong protest against the attack and demanded that Pakistan sticks to the international conventions on diplomatic safety. New Delhi has also reminded Pakistan about its bilateral understanding with this country on the issue of treatment of diplomatic personnel, the spokesman said.

Pakistan's dirty tricks department appears to be working overtime and the attack on the Indian staffer could well have been an event foretold, since India had just yesterday asked a Pakistan High Commission official in New Delhi to leave the country for spying.

The Pakistani national, Dil Fayyaz, was caught red-handed receiving classified documents from a paramilitary trooper near a BSF base camp near Ghaziabad. He was handed over to Pakistani High Commission officials here and Qazi directed that he be sent backto Pakistan by July 5. The assault came two months after P Ravindranathan, an attache of the Indian mission was severely roughed up in Lahore in April.